She can't walk on her injured front legs. Bites have scarred her head and neck. Two of her front teeth have been filed, dulled. Veterinarians believe she may have been training bait for fighting dogs.

But Roo is on a rapid rebound.

About a month after some Oak Cliff residents found her lying lethargic and hungry beside a road, the pit bull terrier is settling into a caring home. And she's getting around just fine – on her hind legs, with a kangaroo-like hop.

"She's pretty amazing the way she does everything," said Julie Ducoté, a Carrollton veterinarian who examined and later adopted her patient.

"I'm a sucker. She's got a very loving and gentle personality. And I just didn't want her to be homeless," she said.

The doctor met Roo several weeks ago, when Shannon Love and neighbor Chuck Snakard brought her in for care. Ducoté, a veterinary neurologist, concluded she had suffered severe nerve damage to her front legs, often caused, she said, by a forceful landing, such as a leap from a moving vehicle.

Despite her injuries and apparent traumatic past, Roo's making-do and her calm, affectionate behavior has touched hearts.

"She doesn't seem to have any hang-ups over what she's been through," said Love, who was called after a neighbor found Roo near Greenbrier Lane in north Oak Cliff.

"I was driving by and saw this dog sprawled along the road," said Snakard. "I said, 'Oh, another dog.' "

After food and water restored some of the animal's strength, Love and Snakard drove her to a veterinarian for shots and a cleanup.

Snakard, then Love cared for Roo and began looking for a permanent home. The adoption group Paws in the City got involved. And before going to Ducoté's clinic, Love and a friend, Bart Weiss, produced a video to help tell the dog's story.

The video shows a yawning, grinning Roo walk-hopping through a yard and ascending six steps to a bowl of food. She eats bending over while standing on her hind legs.

Ducoté says her brindle and white pet weighs 34 pounds and is 1 ½ to 2 years old. She says Roo can feel her front legs but probably won't regain enough strength to walk with them. Still, she has learned to use her strong abdominal muscles for balance and mobility.

"She's got abs of steel," the doctor said.

Roo is a "remarkable inspiration," Love said. "She's one of those dogs that puts a lie to the notion that pit bulls are mean, vicious animals," said Snakard.

Roo is just one example of dog-dumping in Dallas. The city impounded 10 percent more dogs from October through May than last year. A crackdown by animal control officers and the abandoning of animals, perhaps in part because of the economy, are likely the cause, says Kent Robertson, director of Dallas Animal Services.

But animal shelter adoptions are up 20 percent. Add in animal rescues and returns to pet owners and the number of dogs euthanized is down 5 percent, he said.

Roo is numbered among the fortunate ones.

"She landed in tall cotton," said Love, who rescued another pit bull terrier in March and has placed it in a foster home.

"It shows what one chance can do for a dog."